The Wardstone Chronicles #2: The Spook's Curse

It gets better and better each time. Presenting The Wardstone Chronicles #2 The Spook's Curse by Joseph Delaney.

Here is the summary of the book:

Now it's the dark's turn to be afraid. The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, deal with the dark. Together they rid the county of witches, ghosts, and boggarts. But now there's some unfinished business to attend to in Priestown. Deep in the catacombs of the cathedral lurks a creature the Spook has never been able to defeat; a force so evil that the whole county is in danger of being corrupted by its powers. The Bane! As Thomas and the Spook prepare for the battle of their lives, it becomes clear that the Bane isn't their only enemy. The Quisitor has arrived, searching for those who meddle with the dark so he can imprison them—or worse. Can Thomas defeat the Bane on his own? Is his friend Alice guilty of witchcraft? And will the Spook be able to escape the Quisitor's clutches?

Picks up where the spook's apprentice left off. Tom with the Spook goes to Priestown to attend the funeral of one of his brother, a priest (the reason why they were going to Priestown in the first place) and finished an unfinished business of his....sense that...Spook's business. That "business" is a creature called the Bane. Long ago it roamed free and left destruction and despair in its path. It is secure enough, but is getting stronger and is able to control people's minds. The death toll is rising, so the Spook is ready to take care of it. 

But that is not the only trouble they face, the Quisitor is here an he is all sorts of trouble, he is ruthless, he is devious, he is all kinds of bad. In the name of religion he goes about burning women even if they were witches or not all based on the fact they were said to be associating with the dark and the spook seems to be on his hit list and would do all he can to get him killed. That not all the Quisitor has already got himself another witch to burn and its....Alice. 

Add to that something is different this time; keeping the Quisitor aside and taking the factor of the Bane in consideration. Well the Bane seems to be the influencing factor behind a major portion of the story. Constricted within the catacombs beneath Priestown, the creature can still access the minds of the people and day by day the darkness grows and the people keep getting controlled by it. The Bane knows that the spook is the only one who can put a stop to him. What follows is a series of events much more darker and dangerous than the previous one and testing the Spook, Tom and Alice to a T.

As far as the story and the danger level and the is considered there is the heightened level of risk here. The Spook's Curse is a very old and powerful curse that will one day claim his life (but if you believe in it). Again the story is pretty much an awesome piece of work. There is drama, there is risk and most of all there is the darkness that seems to be ever growing and more menacing than before. This book also peels away some more layers of the Spook's character bit by bit and kinda makes us see the "old-bones" in a new light but sadly Tom still remains the same, although he is now much more cautious, thinks things through and has realized that in a spook's line of work he has but only his master as his greatest friend but we don't really see anymore changes in him here.

So another great book and i'm off to read the next one now.

"It grows darker and darker in here"

Genre :      Young Adult, Fantasy


Publisher: Red Fox


Rate:              5/5 (It was Amazing)